For those who can’t seem to keep their language clean, their hands to themselves and all other objects in their possession under control, universities are forced to create behavior policies for spectator events. No need to complain about ridiculous rules, because “ridiculous” should be saved for the behavior that requires such policies to be created. It is expected that universities across the country will need to release policies and statements about conduct at sporting events for fans and athletes.

The following sample public policy and statement (Public Relations Professionals can help with this) would apply to all NCAA sports programs whose goal is to insure packed, not boycotted, sports venues:

To our Fans, Visitors and Athletes

We deeply appreciate your attendance at [SCHOOL] athletic events. Your attendance is important to athletes, coaches and our university. Every individual helps create an exciting and unforgettable sporting experience.

Creating a safe, fun and enjoyable atmosphere for athletic competition has been and continues to be the goal of [            SCHOOL]. Such competition builds school spirit and builds character as athletes strive for excellence on the field or on the court. Welcoming visitors to our campus for these fierce competitions is a vital component of this effort. Treating our guests with respect creates ambassadors for this school and our community that greatly assist in making our university great well into the future.

In keeping with this commitment, any fan attending a [SCHOOL] athletic event, may text [TEXT NUMBER] to report a health emergency or security issue before, during or after the game. Any security concern will be investigated immediately. After assessing the situation according to policies posted at all sporting venues and on [SCHOOL]’s Web site, offending fans may be escorted from the facility.

[SCHOOL] prescribes to a zero tolerance policy for intoxication, extreme verbal abuse, or any physical abuse of another fan. For details regarding this policy, see [WEBSITE].

We encourage you to continuing assisting all the games you can in support of [SCHOOL] athletics. Thank you for providing a competitive atmosphere at [SCHOOL].

Sincerely,

[SCHOOL]

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Yesterday, I heard Louis Pope speak to the Utah Valley Entrepreneurial Forum (UVEF.net) as he received recognition as Social Entrepreneur of the Year. Louis thinks globally, about our back yard in Utah, about our back yard to the world. In his acceptance remarks, he said more than a billion people live in extreme poverty-less than $1/day. However, his comments were not gloom and doom. He spoke of the net reduction of that number over the past several years because of efforts to create jobs.

In PilmerPR’s work in social responsibility (CSR) we tell clients to first “be good, then talk about being good.” Louis and his company are the best examples of this that I know of. He could likely afford to retire to anywhere he chooses. What he chooses to do is lift people by the thousands and to inspire others to do the same. He, Yehu Microfinance, and US Synthetic have truly inspired me. Thank you Louis.

Great story about Louis Pope on KSL TV

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This year, Forbes named Provo the best college town for job growth, U.S. News & World Report called Provo one of the 10 best cities for creative jobs, and the Association of University Technology Managers ranked BYU first in the country in the number of startups, licenses, and patent applications per research dollar spent.

So who’s responsible?

The Utah Valley Entrepreneurial Forum (UVEF) helped answers that question at the Annual UVEF Awards, Thursday at the Provo Novell Campus. The event honored Utah companies and leaders for innovation, business growth and contributions to the entrepreneurial community.

It was standing-room-only at the ceremony.

Josh James, co-founder of Omniture, was awarded "Entrepreneur of the Year."

Josh James, co-founder of Omniture, was the Keynote Speaker, and also won “Entrepreneur of the Year. Omniture was acquired by Adobe for $1.8 billion in October, making it the largest tech acquisition in state history. James shared humorous stories about his roller-coaster ride to entrepreneurial stardom.

Access Technology was awarded “Utah Valley’s Best Kept Entrepreneurial Secret.” Access Technology technology is a logistics provider for retail and consumer brands, eCommerce and multichannel companies and Direct Selling firms. CEO Chris Boyle accepted the award, and told the crowd he hopes the company will no longer be a secret after this and ranking 307th in the Inc 500 list of fastest growing US companies.

Louis Pope, founder of Yehu Microfinance, was awarded “Social Entrepreneur of the Year.” shared his vision for bringing jobs to Kenya Africa starting here in Utah County. Louis is the mastermind behind Utah County-based US Synthetic (a PilmerPR client). Pope retires from US Synthetic this month, and will move to Kenya where he will focus his energies on the non-profit. You can read and watch more of his story on KSL.

Henry O’Connell, President and CEO of Millenniata, accepted the “Most Innovative Product” award for Milleniata’s M-ARC™ Disc, which can store digital data for 1000 years without a loss of quality.

And Scott Frazier, Co-founder of Utah Angels, received the “Greatest Contribution to Entrepreneurs” award on behalf of Utah Angels. He said he is glad to have invested in some great Utah Valley startups like Omniture.

Said UVEF chair Roger Andrus: “These winners represent the spirit of entrepreneurship, which is to take risks and then help others. They are a critical part of why Utah has one of the lowest unemployment rates in this recession.”

PilmerPR agrees, and congratulates all the winners.

You can read more about the ceremony in Deseret News.

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What does Wal-Mart and the United States government have in common? Answer: buying power. According to USAspending.gov, the U.S. government spends more than $500 billion in products and services each year from roughly 230,000 different companies. It is the world’s largest buyer of goods and services. Wal-Mart is the world’s largest consumer products retailer, buying roughly $300 billion each year in products it sells in retail stores from more than 100,000 different companies.

The U.S. government and Wal-Mart’s buying power are influential in setting the stage for corporate social responsibility requirements. According to Information Management, the U.S. government and Wal-Mart will begin phasing in corporate social responsibility requirements for their suppliers and vendors over the next few years. Read more at Utah Business Magazine.

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Tis the season to think thankful thoughts, consider our blessings, bring loved ones close, and whatever else you like to do for the holidays. As a fellow who communicates for a living, I think it a grand idea to share some of what I’m thankful for this Thanksgiving holiday - besides Donny Osmond making the finals of Dancing with the Stars.  From my entrepreneurial viewpoint I’m thankful for:

• Free Markets where new business ideas find fertile ground to grow
• Brave entrepreneurs who venture into the darkness to bring innovations to life
• Intrepid investors who risk it all on brave entrepreneurial startups with great ideas
• Government that stays out of the way of free markets and supports the traditional family as the keystone
• Private run enterprises that create jobs. Politicians who understand that the private sector creates the jobs
• Private sector healthcare run by companies who seek to build business on free market principles
• Men and women who serve in the military to pay the price of freedom
• The right to vote in a free nation (so far)
• The opportunity to take responsibility for my actions and not blame others
• For great immigrants who sign the guest registry first, then show us how to seize the American dream
• A Constitution who’s intent is to protect religious expression from government, not visa versa
• Great clients that trust PilmerPR to offer sound Public Relations and Communications counsel
• My wife of 26 years and three terrific offspring!

What are you thankful for?

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PilmerPR was honored by its peers in Utah for its outstanding media relations, Wednesday.

The Golden Spike Awards committee recognized PilmerPR in the Publicity and Media Relations category for its work promoting the ElectraTherm Green Machine. As part of the campaign, PilmerPR garnered 38 news articles, a syndicated radio interview, interviews on FOX Business News, The 700 Club, and multiple local television stations, and an online podcast. We also helped catch the attention of Popular Science Magazine, which awarded the ElectraTherm Green Machine in its “Best of What’s New” issue. In one year, the campaign reached more than 304 million people, and achieved publicity that would cost around $570,000 if gained through advertising.

PilmerPR founder John Pilmer was also recognized as one of the top five PR pro’s in the state for his accomplishments and ethics.

According to the committee, all Golden Spike entries are judged by fellow PR professionals, following a stringent set of criteria that ensure only the best in the industry are recognized.

These awards represent our commitment to provide best-in-class results for our clients. They can depend on our staff’s media relations skills to bring new top-tier investors and customers to their door.

We are pleased that our results are not only recognized by our clients, but also other PR professionals. We look forward to the years ahead.

Read the full press release here.

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Stephen R Covey

More than 25 years ago, I was invited with my wife to Stephen R Covey’s home. She was working on her Masters of Organizational Behavior at BYU where Dr Covey was heavily involved. Dr Covey’s wife, Sandra sang for us and we sat at the feet of the master for two hours. My life since then has been so positively impacted by his words that night and later by books like The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, First Things First, and The Divine Center. When I think of people that I want to be like “when I grow up,” S.R. Covey is at the top of the list. Many new and powerful personal and business coaches like my own coaches Garrett White (Awaken Soul Purpose) and Heather Madder can trace their growth back to principles taught by this master.

On Saturday, Nov 14. 2009 Utah Valley Entrepreneurial Forum (UVEF) honored the master communicator and entrepreneur, Stephen R Covey by inducting him into the UVEF Hall of Fame. He joins the likes of Alan Ashton, Novell, and Bill Pope in the Hall. Many of the young entrepreneurs in the dinner audience of more than 100 are too young to remember the meteoric rise of Dr Covey as a globally in-demand corporate counselor, consultant, author, and business leader. After sitting at his feet for an hour, these young leaders certainly must know who he is now—a master communicator, a visionary, and a world influencer in the present tense.

Dr. Covey’s son, Stephen M.R. (Speed of Trust), the talent behind the growth of the Covey corporate dynasty, introduced his father with an intimate look into the heart of this very public man. He highlighted Dr. Covey’s public accomplishments including publishing 14 books, training 33 heads of State, including Presidents Clinton, Bush, and soon to be Obama. His book, 7 Habits of Highly Effective People was voted one of the two most influential business books of the last century with sales topping 16 million, and still rising.

Unique to this night was Stephen M.R.’s glimpse into the private man that is Stephen R Covey, a man who truly “walks the talk.” The younger Covey shared the “7 Habits You May Not Know About My Dad.” Here they are:

1 He is generous and abundant, even in face of severe criticism.
2 He is a fun father to his nine children and grandpa to his 51 grandkids.
3 He works hard, even at 78 years of age.
4 He is always teaching, wherever he is.
5 He is family oriented and plans family events 2 years in advance to keep priorities straight.
6 He is deeply spiritual person and gives God source credit for the principles he teaches.
7 He is big on “making a contribution” and believes we should “live life in crescendo.”

A couple of stories illustrate these habits in Dr Covey’s private life. To live in crescendo, he believes his best book is still ahead of him and he is working now on 10 new books. If this does not demonstrate hard work enough, Dr Covey recently returned from giving 40 presentations in 10 countries in 14 days.

On the fun side, the faithful son told of a day many years ago when Dr Covey was at home on the phone giving business counsel to an important client. Because he was lying on the living room floor, his children thought he was fair game for play. So, one of his young sons brought in the ingredients for a perfect sandwich. He spread jelly, then peanut butter on his father’s bald head, capping it off with a piece of bread. Somehow, the consummate professional completed his call and enjoyed the ride. The children enjoyed the effort so much that they made the PB&J sandwich on dad’s head an annual tradition.

After Stephen R tolerated the applause that Saturday evening as he approached the podium, he proceeded to teach, habit number five. I only highlight one subject here, but there where many powerful points. Heads of State and heads of Native American tribes have all learned the lessons of the “Talking Stick” from this Yoda of communications and human behavior. Based on the well-known Covey teaching “seek first to understand, then to be understood,” the communications initiator hands his/her counterpart the Stick. The partner in communication then states his position or makes his point. Then, the initiator reflects back what he thought he heard to the holder of the Talking Stick. Only when the holder of the Stick feels understood is the stick returned to the initiator. Then, the process repeats until all parties feel they understand and are understood. This is a powerful lesson for not only heads of state and diplomats, but also for corporate public relations spokespeople, spouses, and parents.

Stephen R Covey feels his best work is yet ahead, which must be part of why he’s still moving fast at 77. Watch for his in-process book, The End of Crime

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Too often companies are so eager to jump on the next hot thing that they forget to strategize their approach. This concept is painfully true for businesses of all sizes when it comes to social media. Disjointed, unplanned and poorly executed are too frequently the adjectives that best describe a company’s social media tactics. This causes company “energy leaks” that can be prevented.

A blog post about X, a Tweet about Y, and a press release about Z, waste time, energy and resources. Blog posts, Tweets, press releases, social bookmarking and more should be done in a strategic manner to create synergy and to play the symphony of social media.

Playing the Social Media Symphony

The symphony and social media tactics have a lot in common. Just as a symphony carefully coordinates many instruments, a strong social media strategy should employ all the available tools for optimal success.

Read more at Utah Business Magazine

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Governor Gary Herbert addresses 300+ US25 Gala attendees

As I worked on the Utah Student 25 Executive Committee over the past six months, it became apparent that we were working on something big for the state. Utah is at the top of the heap among state economies due in part to rising entrepreneurial ventures. Utah Student 25 dug a little deeper this year to find the roots of some of the past and future shooting stars of Utah business.

At the recent inaugural awards gala WordPerfect, 800-Contacts, Novell, Omniture, and others were cited as the best of sector leaders founded by college students. Utah Student 25 focused in on early stage, student-founded startups that are growing rapidly and making a profit. Meter Solutions rose to the top of the pile this year with smart grid automated metering solutions for gas, water, and electric utilities. They were not alone in a class of 25 entrepreneurial startups creating more than 100 jobs and $3.9 million in revenue over the past year.

Governor Herbert congratulated the finalists as the hope of Utah’s future economic success. Prolific mentor and angel investor Stephen Gibson counseled others to be a mentor to someone coming aftern them. Omniture co-founder John Pestana spoke of the wrenching challenges of getting the right employees on the bus as their company evolved. John’s partner, Josh James, spoke of the roller coaster ride of revenue and reinvention that Omniture endured before reaching the distinction of being the largest tech acquisition in Utah history.

We are pleased to serve as Public Relations mentor and guide for Utah Student 25 and will watch with great interest the progress of it’s first class of 25.

John Pilmer briefs Gov Herbert in preparation for US25 Gala

John Pilmer & Governor speak after Gov Gary Herbert speaks

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As the popularity of Facebook continues to grow, business owners are trying to figure out how they can capitalize on the more than 300 million Facebook users. With more than 40 million status updates and ten million users becoming fans of business pages each day, there has to be a market for your company.

As a public relations firm, one of the most frequent questions we are asked about Facebook is this: “Okay, I have a Facebook business page. Now what?” Signing up for and creating a Facebook business page is simple. However, making a meaningful, relevant and useable page for your market is a different process.

Here are a few basic practices that can help your Facebook business page grow in popularity.

Read more at Utah Business Magazine

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